Thursday, October 13, 2011

The 14th Annual Theresa Pollak Prize for Excellence in the Arts

Just last night I received Richmond Magazine's Theresa Pollak Prize for Excellence in
the Arts. The prize is given annually to a dozen (or so) visual, and
performing artists who live in Richmond. The artists are chosen by a committee made of previous award winners. This year's selectors said of my work:

Michael
Lease's photography addresses the familiarity and accessibility of the
snapshot with an enhanced awareness of the world. He is a
community-focused artist who brings people together in a collective
experience, as he did when he choreographed a performance event of
onlookers gathering to admire the flight of chimney swifts. He sees
things others do not and captures them for us.

It's a real honor to be in the company
of those who have won the Pollak in the past, as well as this year's winners:
Tanja Softic, Ana Ines King and the Latin Ballet of Virginia, Rex
Richardson, Susan Iverson, Samson Trinh & the Upper East Side Big
Band, Eric Knight, Todd Raviotta, Scott Wichmann, Joshua Poteat, and
Myra Daleng.